


Hoax

by jac_jones7



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Hurt Jaskier | Dandelion, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapped Jaskier | Dandelion, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mentioned Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Minor Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Multi, Nilfgaard, Post-Episode: S01E06 Rare Species
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:28:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27932287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jac_jones7/pseuds/jac_jones7
Summary: After the mountain, and the dragon, things got bad. They could get better though.
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Hoax

**Author's Note:**

> Still a work in progress, will update tags if necessary as the story goes on.

_“Stood on the cliffside screaming, "Give me a reason.”_

_-Hoax, Taylor Swift_

It seemed like a kindness at the time. The relief he felt at being let go was louder than the little voice in his head asking “Why now? What changed?” He let the relief take him, and he finally closed his eyes to sleep.

When he woke again, he did not know how long he had been out. He knew it was dark, and the moon was especially bright. He stopped counting the days and nights when they stopped asking questions and started demanding answers. They left him on some cliffs on the river valley of the Pontar. They never stopped moving toward where they thought the Witcher’s keep was. The view would have been breathtaking if he had any breaths left to spare, but he knew he would need all the ones that he had left. He hoisted himself into the most comfortable position he could, sitting up was never very good anymore, the scars from where they pulled him apart lay on top of ribs that never healed right each time they were broken. He wondered about how he ended up here. He no longer shed tears, but he allowed himself one indulgence. He allowed himself to scream.

“GIVE ME A REASON!” he shouted. He put every feeling, every emotion, everything that ever made him what he was into that scream. He knew he would never get an answer but at least the question was out there. He watched some birds take flight, the moon shining on their wings, having been startled by him and allowed himself to finally remember.

_It had been months, or even years since the dragon hunt, when he turned away and left a part of himself on top of a mountain. Time stopped having meaning when he no longer had the security of knowing that every spring he wouldn’t be alone again._

_He managed to get himself down the mountain. He didn’t stop to eat or sleep at first, the one time he tried, his food tasted like ash and his mind wouldn’t let him stop. All thoughts of taking a break were overwhelmed by the desperate need to just be away. Away from everything. Away from his everything. He didn’t have a destination in mind, just started to walk. It was somewhere in Temeria, he long ago stopped noticing the names of towns and taverns they were all the same to him now, that Nilfgaard found him._

_He was surprised that it had taken this long, he was never trying to hide. Jaskier knew he would be a target. He put up a winless fight and twisted his dagger into any body part not attached to him. He was overtaken by soldiers and bound behind a horse. The Witcher’s Bard was what they called him. They never called him by his name, just referred to him as the Witcher’s. He wanted to protest that he was not the Witcher’s anything. He was not his friend, foe, or family, but they gagged him after the first day. It seems that they did not appreciate music in the same way the townspeople ever did._

* * *

Ciri startled awake. The birds in the tree above her suddenly took flight. She looked over at her companion to see if he was awoken as well. She was not expecting him to be already packing up their camp. When he met her eyes, her heart stuttered at the pain and hope that were waging a war in the golden orbs.

“Get your stuff together. We’re leaving. Now.” He huffed at her, taking her few belongings from her arms and adding them to his bag.

She never got a chance to ask where they were going before he strapped the bags to Roach and demanded that she keep up. He had never been gruff or rude to her before, this new side of him intrigued and mildly frightened her. Ciri followed along, thankful for the cloudless night that allowed the moon to light the pathway. She knew they were following the river, could hear it rushing in the distance. They seemed to be moving closer to the water, the sound getting louder.

“Geralt, where are we going? What has happened? What are we running from?” her inquires were met with silence.

She didn’t know that he could hear the shallow breaths and gasps that followed an anguished cry into the dark. That they were not running from something but rushing towards someone.

Geralt felt the hope and fear rise in him. He feared he was right and hoped he was wrong. No one had heard from or about Jaskier in a year. After the mountain and the dragon, he stopped intentionally listening for information about him. It never stopped him from accidentally learning about his whereabouts though. Until a year ago, when all news of him stopped. When the news stopped, was when he realized he needed to start listening, and that he should have been listening earlier.

**Author's Note:**

> So I don't usually post my works, cause i am terrible at editing, so editing suggestions and critiques are welcome!


End file.
